A/N: Hi there! Okay, so first off, I am not Rick Riordan and I do not own the rights to the Percy Jackson and the Olympian series, or the Heroes of Olympus series, or any of the characters.
Note: If you haven't read Heroes of Olympus: The Son Of Neptune, go back. I mean, you can read if you want to, but it probably won't make much sense to you. This fanfiction works best if you have read all of the books so far, like myself. While I was waiting for Mark of Athena to come out, I wanted to write a fanfiction just about Annabeth and Percy meeting. But what ended up happening was similar to my idea, but also better, so I changed my original idea of what I wanted to happen. So considering this is only about their meeting, it probably won't be very long because otherwise I'll follow the same plot as the book, and I don't want to do that (: I've already written chapter two and I'm making my way through three, so please review, and if I get good feedback I'll post the others!
Chapter One: The Leap of Faith (Annabeth's POV)
As the Argo II begins to make its descent, I'm standing at the starboard, leaning over the side, craning to get a glimpse of him. Percy. 'I'll see him soon,' I mutter to myself.
'Hey, Wise Girl, stand up straight or you'll go splat!' I look up to see Leo giving me that mischievous grin of his, and hastily straighten up.
'Sorry Leo, I'm a little excited.' I reply sheepishly. 'Hey, no sweat. I get it,' he responds, 'just,' his understanding grin quickly changes to a grimace, 'don't fall off, cause that would be really bad for the whole saving-the-world thing we're supposed to do.' I stifle a laugh and nod solemnly. Leo seems satisfied that I'm no longer attempting to endanger myself and leaves me to my own devices. Once he's out of sight, I once again lean over the railing of the ship, taking care that 'Captain Leo' doesn't catch me. And suddenly, my stomach does a cart-wheel. I focus my gaze and realise that Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon, my glorious boyfriend, is right below us. And I know that I can't wait any longer.
While Leo and Festus are preparing the anchors to land, I seize the emergency rope ladder and begin to climb down. Leo shouts obscenities at me, which I ignore. I get to the end of the ladder, when an incredulous "Annabeth? " draws my attention to the ground. Percy is staring at me, and of course my stomach flips inside out.
"Annabeth! What are you doing? " he shouts.
"I'm climbing down!" I replied, exasperated. How could he not see that?
"But… there's no more rope!" He shouts back.
Only then do I realise the problem. I remember that the rope ladder is only eight metres long. Which means I can either climb back up, or I can jump two metres to the firm and unyielding ground below.
"Annabeth! Don't be stupid!" Percy pleads. "Wow," he adds, perplexed, "I never thought I'd hear myself say that!"
The Athena inside of me knows that the most sensible decision would be to climb back up the ladder, but the completely love-stricken imbecile in my head overrules any rational thought, and I take the leap of faith. The fall felt like the blink of an eye, but Percy moved like Jason. That is to say, as fast as lightning. He rushed forward in an attempt to catch me, and he does, but he only prevents the brunt of the fall. His strong arms wrapped around me, but he staggers as I land on my feet.
Thankfully, I didn't sustain any injuries to my head, but my left ankle flares in pain, and I know that I've sprained it, maybe even broken it. Percy lowers me to the ground and places my head on his lap, stroking my hair.
"A word of advice: don't jump two metres from a flying warship," I say weakly. Percy laughs softly and kisses my forehead.
"It's okay. You'll be alright," he says.
And that's the last thing I remember before I pass out.